392 
THE COTTAGE GAKDENER 
February 17. 
of, are comparable. The true variety of these birds are of 
themselves very ornamental; they are also good layers, and, 
generally speaking, good sitters. Besides, a couple, or even 
three of them, when well fed, properly cooked, and placed 
on a dish at one end of the dining-table, with a pig’s cheek 
vis-a-i’is, flanked with cauliflower, asparagus, and appen¬ 
dages, such as gravy, melted butter, and bread-sauce, might 
serve a select gastronomic faculty to fonn a judgment, 
and pass a far weightier decision than that which wouhl 
possibly emanate from a private individual like myself, 
upon a subject, at once so important, delicate, and interest¬ 
ing withal! 
Sir J. Sebright’s Silver-spangled Bantams are even hand¬ 
somer than the above, but this is all; they do not answer in 
any respect so well for the purpose I am treating upon, and 
are even more diflicult to rear than the Golden Pheasants. 
T thus mention them as a caution. 
A cross between the pheasant and the fowl there never 
was, nor ever will be. Mr. Beaton has let ns into the 
secret of cross-hreeding as much as anybody. As a devourer 
of his articles, and as a tittle of compensation, I hereby 
state, that it would be about as reasonable to expect a cross 
between the Shrubland Geranium and the Hollyhock, as to 
hope for a like feature between the fowl and the pheasant. 
Varieties of fowl, even emanating from a cross with their 
own species, require to be naiTowly watched, and kept up to 
the feather, or hack to their maternal origin (otherwise 
sterility) they inevitably go—Sir .John Sebright’s Bantams 
not excepted. A new and established variety of Pheasant, 
by intercrossing with their species, I do not think can be 
aiTived at; a few hybrids occasionally form a result, but are 
they not invariably a sterile generation ? Enough has been 
attempted this way to allow the experiment to be fairly 
given up as hopeless. 
Place a strip of turf, in the fonn of a half circle, at the 
corners of the pheasantry, for the pnqiose of securing, as a 
lean-to, some pointed spruce fir boughs; and form in the 
process two rather unobstructed entrances, on either side, 
ivith the gi’ound for their base. The pheasants will at once 
adopt the concealment, and hollow for themselves a bare 
nest on the loose gravel, in preference to the exposed part 
of the pheasantry, retiring to lay their eggs there. Tlieir 
Creator imprinted within them this modest fear and elegant 
instinct. 
One might suppose the birds could bo induced to sit also 
under these circumstances, but, no; repeated trials impel 
me to say—No. Possibly, the stimulus afforded them 
by an easy and bountiful supply of food is a reason why 
they almost invariably lay a larger number of eggs in con¬ 
finement, than pheasants are commonly observed to do at 
large, but they appear to lose all interest in the sitting 
atfair. When by chance a bird with us offered to sit, 
she performed the office in so irregular a manner that suc¬ 
cess never attended it. These stubborn facts led us to 
deprive them of their eggs on the day they were laid, 
excepting one or two to remain as nest eggs. 
If we had not a Bantam, who desired to sit just at the 
time we wanted, or a sufficient number of eggs for the 
purpose, those by us were placed singly on bran, in a place 
: of even temperature, with the day of the month on which 
I they were laid written upon them, and they were turned 
once in forty-eight hours ; in a case of necessity, and thus 
preserved, they would be safe to place under a hen at a 
period of six weeks from the time they were laid, 
i No one should think of placing a hen to sit otherwise 
i than on the ground, for which the boxes already figured are 
i purposely adapted ; I can safely recommend them after ten 
years’ trial. Procure a sound turf, three inches in thick¬ 
ness, of the same dimensions, and place it at the bottom of 
I the sitting box; ram a slight hollow in imitation of a nest 
on the surface of the sod; a position to receive the eggs, 
I inclining to that side of the box not opposite the entrance ; 
thus placed, to see and not be seen, is what the hen so highly 
j approves of; a thin layer of the newest and cleanest wheat- 
' straw may be placed upon the turf. 
! Procure two nest eggs, to be temporarily placed there; 
I and now, madam, to prove your power of endurance. Two 
or three days ;—well! I find you have made up your mind, 
like a reasonable hen, firmly and determinedly bent on 
becoming a mother. Come, come, you need not be so 
angry; but take care, do not peck a hole in one of those 
eleven eggs, for they come of a pedigree even superior to 
yourself, though it be of a like sounding oreriferous nomen¬ 
clature. However, an egg is an egg, all the world over 
with you, you are no respecter of eggs, whether they come 
of a golden pheasant, or a grey goose ? More especially, 
when 1 tell you they were laid very recently, nearly all of 
them upon the. same day, wliich you may observe by the 
writing, and by consequence will save both yourself and 
myself a vast deal of bother and anxiety; for they will 
probably all of them hatch on the same day, in three weeks’ 
time. There, I place water for you, and barley shall not be 
wanting; I now feel myself perfectly justified with leaving 
you to perform all those little et ceteras with which I cannot 
possibly be thought to have any concern; those matters 
remain incumbent upon yourself as a hen ; therefore, enjoy 
your own reflective, felicitous ruminations upon the s\ibject; 
you may depend on me with regard to ulterior arrange¬ 
ments, such as chopped egg, and all that sort of tiling. Au 
revoir/ 
A watchful eye must administer, for it sometimes happens 
that the lien will play truant from her nest too frequently, 
and too long at a time; this must be strictly guai-ded 
against; when you perceive her this way inclined, place 
something opposite the entrance of the box; remove the 
obstruction once in the course of the day, and then and 
there provide water and food, so that she may not have the 
slightest shadow of an excuse for neglecting her duty. At 
the expiration of nineteen days, something interesting may 
shortly be expected ; the hen now heai’s the first cry of her 
little ones ; her mother’s heart warms towards them, and 
she will sit uncommonly close : do not disturb her, though 
it becomes advisable, at this critical state of affairs, in the 
first of the morning, and the last thing at night, to interfere 
somewhat by way of observation; for if, as it does too often 
happen when a sitting of eggs is placed under a hen, some 
are fresh and othei’s stale, the fresh ones will inevitably 
hatcli first; the consequence is, the hen becomes so excited 
and anxious to be off with these her first progeny, that she 
will unwittingly allow the remainder to become buried alive 
in their shells. To prevent a misfortune of this sort, remove 
those firstling instigators to all this mischief, and place them 
not too near the fire, in a piece of warm flannel, out of 
harm’s way, and they will do very ■well there, for several 
liours even. To prevent her thus taking an early trip in 
the morning, before people are stirring, place an obstruction 
opposite lier entrance at night. 
Sufficient aliment remains to the infant creature within 
itself to allow a sustenance for the first twenty-four hours ; 
though it is not advisable to push the extremity of these 
powers quite so far as that. I merely mention the circum¬ 
stance, precautionary, as a guard against an over anxiety 
one often finds among good-natured people, to relievo the 
cra'viugs of a supposed hunger the moment the birds ai-o 
hatched ; contraiy to this, if the process go on well, and all 
is as it should be, they become considerably strengthened 
by allowing them to remain several hours quietly under the 
hen. 
Returning from this digression, I will resume the worst 
feature, by supposing the remainder of the chicks come 
forth within the twenty-four hours; if not, and tho eggs , 
show no sign, place them near your ear, and give each a 
gentle shake, you will thus be made aware if they are addled. ' 
This is all the doctoring I resort to; I dislilve, unless it 
becomes absolutely necessary, to assist the parturition of a 
chick from the shell. I always consider the merest novice 
of a hen more competent, agreeably -with nature’s dictation, 
to perform these functions. I also confess to be one (of tho 
worst doctors in the world. I do not like doctoring; and to 
tell the real truth, this science in our practice witli poultry 
has always been at a nonplus. Remedy preferable to dis¬ 
ease is our motto: therefore, as a leave go to this incubation i 
process, I advise every sitting of eggs, pheasants, or what¬ 
not, to be fresh as fresh can be, and then, ten to one, but 
they all hatch freely, and at the same time. 
A dry lawn or grass plot, is, if possible, the proper station 
to place the coop upon for the reception of tho hen and 
her petite brood ; they could not possibly bo thought dero¬ 
gatory to the best situation that can be found. 
The net protection figured with the coop serves admirably 
